Chapter 3 (Nature-Nuture Debate)

Question 1

How can you explain natural selection

Answer 1

1. Individuals differ (variation)
2. There are more individuals than resources (struggle)
3. Offspring resemble parents (heritability)
4. In dividuals have features that help with survival and reporduction (adaptions)
5. Some individuals are better developed and give that to offspring
   - -> differential reproductive success

Question 2

What is sexual selection

Answer 2

when there are features selected that make the animal more attractive to sexual partners
it balances itself out with natural selection, to a point where it is not visible to predators but as visible as possible to mates

Question 3

What is the mechanism of heritability

Answer 3

.

Question 4

Why is incest a problem?

Answer 4

because family members have the same recessive genes, which have a higher chance of producing syndromes
(chances of encountering somebody with the same recessive genes is very low)

Question 5

what is behaviour genetics

Answer 5

when you show behaviour based on your genes

for example the heritability of intelligence at very young age is lower than later on

Question 6

how do genes and enviroment interact?

Answer 6

.

Question 7

.

Answer 7

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Question 8

.

Answer 8

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Question 9

what is differential susceptibility

Answer 9

when some individuals stay the same under any circumstances, while other change in certain ones or are more influenced by envirment

Question 10

what are epigenetics

Answer 10

chnages in gene expression that are relatively stable during cell division, sometimes even over generations. They are independent from the genetic code itself

Question 11

what are precocial and alticial species

Answer 11

precocial means the young are able from the moment of birth

altricial means that the young have to be cared for more after birth

Question 12

what is nativism and empiricism

Answer 12

naticism means that one thinks many skills are wired in the brain humans (genes), and do not have to be learned
empiricsm means that one thinks most things have to be learned completely

Question 13

what is the chronological age and the mental age

Answer 13

the persons actual age is chronological, the mental age is the level of mental ability
(IQ=MA/CA*100 used to be)

Question 14

What is heriability in intelligence

Answer 14

it measures how much of of the variation of a trait is due to genetic differences in that population

Question 15

what is genetic determinism and enviromentalism

Answer 15

genetic det. says that people become who they are because of genetic inheritance, enviromentalism says its because of their experience

Question 16

what is the missing heritability problem

Answer 16

the failure of science to find any genes which can be sccounted for intelligence or cognitive ability, even tho it has a strong genetic component

Question 17

what is enviromental drift

Answer 17

when the development changes because of a changing enviroment

Question 18

what did adoption studies find

Answer 18

an early deprived upbring can have serious effects on child development, adoption can help here
also, cognitive development is not under genetic control entirely

Question 19

what is the flynn effect what are possible reasons

Answer 19

the gradual increase ion IQ over generations beacuse of
- less children in families
- better eductaion
- better diet
- more learning in style of questions and technology
it is reducing in first world countries today

Question 20

what two other things can have bad effects on development in chrildren

Answer 20

malnutrition and poverty